Samurai Champloo

24 min |
Animation, Action, Adventure |
TV Series (2004–2005 )

IMDb Ratings: 8.7/10

Samurai Champloo (Japanese: サムライチャンプルー, Hepburn: Samurai Chanpurū) is a Japanese anime series developed by Manglobe. It featured a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, character designer Kazuto Nakazawa and mechanical designer Mahiro Maeda. Samurai Champloo was Watanabe's first directorial effort for an anime television series after the critically acclaimed Cowboy Bebop. It was first broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV on May 20, 2004 and ran for twenty-six episodes until its conclusion on March 19, 2005.
Samurai Champloo is set in an alternate version of Edo-era (1603 and 1868) Japan with an anachronistic, predominantly hip-hop, setting. It follows Mugen, an impudent and freedom-loving vagrant swordsman; Jin, a composed and stoic rōnin; and Fuu, a brave girl who asks them to accompany her in her quest across Japan to find the "samurai who smells of sunflowers".
Like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo was critically acclaimed, and the series was dubbed in the English language and licensed by Geneon Entertainment for releases in North America. Funimation Entertainment began licensing the series after Geneon ceased production of its titles. It was also licensed for English releases in the United Kingdom by MVM Films, and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.